Projecting the Self into Virtual Worlds: Merging Identities with a Video Game Character

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of perspective-taking instructions (PTI) on (a) the tendency to project aspects of the self onto a video game character and (b) the degree of “telepresence” within a virtual world. Perspective taking instructions encourage subjects to imagine themselves as a story character. It has been found in the past that PTI may cause an individual to merge identities with a story character in written stories 1 and films 2 . This study replicated these findings using a video game. Male video gamers played a video game and completed character trait measures about themselves and about the game character. Subjects given perspectivetaking instructions (PTI) had more overlap in the character traits ascribed to themselves and the character than did control subjects. PTI did not significantly impact telepresence. Positive and negative implications of these findings are discussed.